Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Abu Dabi, UAE – Review of my Perfect Stay

Back in March, I was spending a day in UAE. I was flying in/out on Emirates in First and the service provides a complimentary transportation both ways within the United Arab Emirates. I have been to both Dubai and Abu Dhabi many times before. As a matter of fact, when I am writing this, I am on my way to Dubai yet again.

The ride from Dubai to Abu Dhabi takes about two hours. If you take a regular taxi, the fare is about 200 dirhams or so. There is some kind of bus service between the cities as well, but I have not personally used it.

The location of this hotel is somewhat out of the city center. It is halfway between the center and the airport. Approximately 8 miles from the city center of the Abu Dhabi.

Check In

I was using my yearly free night certificate and a suite upgrade certificate in top of that. The free night and the upgrade were both confirmed about a day before my stay.

The check in was fairly smooth. There was confusion about something. The President’s Club guest relations manager was going to escort me to my suite. I learned that he had previously worked for IHG’s Priority Club in Mania.

Suite 953

The suite was absolutely fantastic. It had a rather large living room and one of the best chocolate and fruit amenities that I have ever come across on my hotel stays.

The suite had a view of the hotel’s beach and the mosque on the other side of the creek.

The living room had a guest toilet, Nespresso machine that even I knew how to use, and rather large tv.

There was a spacious walk in closet with a vanity area between the living room and the bedroom.

The work desk was on the bedroom.

Beach & Pool

There was a large private beach with plenty of sun chairs on the sand and around the pool area.

The day, when I was there, the weather was actually so cold that I had to wear a jacket. One of the pools was warmed, however, and there were handful of people in there.

The beach & pool area was probably the nicest that I have seen in Abu Dhabi.

Fitness Center

This was not the highlight of the hotel. I am not sure if the fitness center setup was temporarily. It is on the far end of the building and you need to access it from outside. They do have lockers there, but not sure if they even had showers etc. Certainly they didn’t have any saunas or Jacuzzis etc. that are very common in the fitness centers in the area.

Food & Beverage Outlets

My stay at the hotel was relatively quick overnight, and I had a car picking me up early in the morning. I didn’t have time to check out any of the numerous outlets.

Conclusion

This was a fantastic hotel and wouldn’t hesitate to visit again. I will most certainly do at some point when I am back in Abu Dhabi.

The only possibly negative thing could be the location depending what is the purpose of your visit in Abu Dhabi. On one hand it is good to be away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but at the same time the location is inconvenient to just pop into the city center especially if you don’t have a car. The taxes are very affordable in UAE though.

The architecture of the hotel was very interesting and obviously a lot of money had been spent on it. The beach and pool area of the hotel is excellent, and I could see that someone could just go there for a short getaway.

The service overall was very good. I didn’t experience any problems during my stay.